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NJ Statewide Accreditation Facilitation Project

Private/Public Partnership

The New Jersey Accreditation Facilitation Project (AFP) is a unique public/private partnership that has been formed by Professional Impact NJ in collaboration with the State of New Jersey Department of Human Services, the Schumann Fund for New Jersey, the Prudential Foundation, Lucent Technologies Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, the Johanette Wallerstein Foundation, the Victoria Foundation, Fleet Bank, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

The project is also partially sponsored by the following companies through The American Business Collaboration for Quality Dependent Care: AT&T, Dow Jones & Company, Inc., ExxonMobil, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Company, Merrill Lynch, Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation, and Warner-Lambert Company.

The Camden Project is funded by the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation.

The Kean University Foundation and Office of Research & Sponsored Programs has assisted in raising more than one million dollars to fund the project.

Project Overview

Round One (January 2001-December 2003): Provide technical assistance and financial support to 130 community-based child care centers statewide in achieving “first-time” accreditation through the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Priority has been given to Abbott based centers and those serving American Business Collaboration employees.

Round Two (January 2004-December 2005): Provide technical assistance and financial support to 160 additional community-based child care centers statewide in achieving “first-time” accreditation through NAEYC. Centers will be phased in regionally in 4 stages as funding allows. Priority is given to centers receiving state subsidies.

The Camden Project (March 2004-February 2006): Provide technical assistance and financial support a cohort of 8 community-based centers in the City of Camden. Accreditation pre-readiness activities will be offered to other centers within the city that voluntarily participate. Work is collaborated with the Rutgers University Center for Children and Childhood Studies. Funding is made possible through the generosity of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

AFP is a Three Tiered System

Child care centers participating in the project receive 3 levels of support. Namely,

1. An Advisory Board composed of funders and major stakeholders.
2. Professional Impact NJ Accreditation Facilitation staff and working committee.
3. The regional facilitating agencies and consultants that provide direct technical support to the centers.

NJ Accreditation Facilitation Project Support to Participating Child Care Programs

• Payment of center accreditation fees to NAEYC
• Enhancement grants of $2000 per center
• Staff training and development opportunities
• Free tuition to the Directors’ Academy
• Scholarships for teaching staff
• Project oversight
• Network and support groups for program directors
• Individualized on-site technical assistance, consultation, and advisement
• Mentoring
• Discounted rates on purchasing from approved vendors

The Accreditation Facilitation Project of New Jersey is designed to enhance the availability and access to high quality early childhood programs by increasing the number of accredited centers through the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The goal is to assist selected community-based child care centers in achieving “first-time” national accreditation status by providing both technical support and financial assistance to child care centers throughout the state. Accreditation has been identified as a key to quality early care and education.

Community-based child care centers committed to providing high-quality services to young children and their families should apply. Priority is given to those:

• Centers seeking first-time accreditation
• Centers currently in self-study
• CBC centers that receive state subsidy
• Centers in the neediest districts
• Centers serving American Business Collaboration employees
• Centers with infant/toddler programs

Director – “This has been a wonderful opportunity to improve our center. We are working on rearranging our environment, creating learning centers and better understanding Developmentally Appropriate Practices.”

Teacher- “Some of our parents have felt that the changes taking place have made the children happier and more excited about coming to our center in the morning.”

For more information, contact Theresa Caputo, Project Director.
Telephone: Kean University in Union office at (908)-737-5904.
Rutgers University in Camden office at (856) 963-4509.
Email:tcaputo@njpdc.org

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The purpose of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation system is to improve the quality of care and education provided for young children in group programs. The importance of providing high-quality early childhood programs has gained recognition as parents, teachers, and caregivers work together to provide the best practices that children deserve and adults grow to expect. Programs that voluntarily demonstrate substantial compliance with NAEYC criteria for high quality early childhood programs meet nationally recognized standards of quality. NAEYC is a national organization that has provided long-standing leadership in the field of early care and education.

• Offer a safe and healthy environment
• Build bridges between home and center
• Provide a challenging and meaningful curriculum that supports children’s learning through play
• Create positive relations between children and caring adults
• Promote the physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development of children appropriately
• Enhance the professional growth of teachers
• Assure quality care and education

Working towards accreditation is a reflective process that focuses on:
Administration
Staffing
Interaction among staff and children
Staff qualifications and development
Physical environment
Multiculturalism
Health and safety
Nutrition and food services
Evaluation

Three Steps to Accreditation

Step 1 Self Study:

Program personnel conduct a self-study to determine how well the program meets NAEYC criteria. Information is gathered from classroom observations as well as parent and staff questionnaires. The program then makes center improvements. A program description is submitted to NAEYC. Highlights of this stage of the process include:

• Asking parents and staff members for input
• Identifying strengths of the program
• Making program improvements
• Submitting a program description to NAEYC

A validator trained by NAEYC will schedule and conduct an on-site visit to verify the accuracy of the program description. The highlight of the this stage is:

• On-site visit by NAEYC

At this stage, Commissioners of NAEYC will consider validation of the program based on the program description and the validation visit report. The decision may be to grant or defer accreditation. The highlight of this stage is:

• Decision to grant or defer accreditation

To be eligible for NAEYC accreditation, an early childhood program must…

• Serve a minimum of 10 children within the age group of birth through 5 years in part- or full-day programs;
• Be in operation for at least one year to request a validation visit;
• Be licensed, or exempt from licensing, demonstrate compliance with licensing requirements;
• Include all program components that come under the eligibility criteria in the self-study and validation process, i.e., a program that serves infants, toddlers, and school-agers must include all groups in the accreditation process.

Suggestions for Centers Working Towards Accreditation

• Become familiar with NAEYC standards and the accreditation process
• Visit the NAEYC Web-site: www.naeyc.org
• Make a decision to support the center and its goal for national accreditation
• Take adequate time to reflect but keep the project on a timeline
• Honestly look at the strengths and areas of improvement for the program
• Focus on the children
• Support the changes required in the program action improvement plan
• Be positive and stay informed
• Use limited resources wisely
• Collaborate and work together

Involvement

The process of achieving accreditation involves the governing board, administration, staff members, parents, and, of course, the children of a center.

For more information go to the NAEYC website at: www.naeyc.org

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